Constantly Stamping

Global Design Project: GDP288 CASE Challenge

This week at Global Design Project, we are CASEing this fun card by Manuela Geiswinkler. This card made me take a step back and really look for a way to make it my own. It wasn't easy because I don't have any images in my current stamp collection that even come close to this cute little snail.

Using the Hydrangea Hill Suite (#155985) of products is probably not the first thing you would consider when CASEing Manuela’s adorable snail mail card. The key to making a project work for you is focusing on one design element. In this instance, I love how the stamped images emerge from the envelope in the lower-left corner. However, I had to improvise when making the envelope. I used a 3" square envelop as a pattern and cut about an inch off the bottom.

When placing the flowers into the envelope I had to "re-distribute" some of the leaves to make a more pleasing arrangement. By re-distribute, I mean to cut off and use them elsewhere on the layout.  Originally, I tried to stay true to the color pallet that Manuela used but ended up letting the DSP take center stage. I used Stampin' Blends to color the images in Soft Sea Foam, Highland Heather, and Misty Moonlight. I also needed more depth to the colors so I added in a small bit of Light Smoky Slate to the darker areas. The key here is to use a light hand and blend quickly.

I couldn't resist adding the adorable little tag from the Hydrangea Dies (#154326) with a bit of Linen Thread (#104199). Finally, I added some Basic Pearl Jewels (#144219) to several of the flower centers.

Just a quick note: If you love the Hydrangea Hill DSP (#154570) be sure to get it now. The stamp set and dies carry over into the new catalog, but this beautiful Designer Series Paper is only available until the end of June (or while supplies last).

I hope you like today's project. We would love to have you play along with us this week. Be sure to check out what the other talented designers/players have created for this challenge at the Global Design Project Challenge Blog.

I WOULD LOVE TO BE YOUR STAMPIN' UP! DEMONSTRATOR

If you are in the United States and need a demonstrator, then you can order your supplies in my online store here.

 

 

Global Design Project: GDP286 Sketch Challenge

I am very excited about this week's sketch at Global Design Project. I literally started with one notecard and couldn't control myself. I ended up making a set of six coordinating notecards with matching envelopes.

April is such an exciting time. As a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, we get to see and purchase products from the upcoming annual catalog. But wait...I haven't even begun to use all the beautiful papers and stamps I already have and yet it is time to say goodbye? The Flowers For Every Season 6" x 6" designer series paper (#152486) is so beautiful and perfect for springtime cards, but it will be gone soon. So I decided to make it the focus of my projects and I just couldn't get enough.

My goal was to focus on one paper and one stamp set, and just see what I could create. The Free As A Bird stamp set (#149468) was the perfect choice for this challenge. It has several versatile greetings, so I had a variety to choose from.

One of the things I love about this paper is that it has several beautiful floral designs as well as some more subtle ones that read more like a solid. This is very important when you want to easily mix and match patterns. There is even one design full of flowers that lends itself well to fussy-cutting.

So here is how I made these cards. I started with thick white cardstock to create several  3" x 3" card bases. Then I used the 2-7/8" square from the Layering Squares dies (#151772) to cut the DSP. Next, I used the next to largest circle from the Stitched Shapes dies (#152323) to cut a circle from the centers of the squares.

I glued the DSP to the card bases and then added stamped sentiments and embellishments. I used the same DSP to cover the flaps from the 3"x3" envelopes (#145829). (Note: the envelopes are actually 3-1/8" square and are designed to hold 3" x 3" notecards.)

All six cards and envelopes fit perfectly into the Clear Acetate Card Boxes (#150428). I tied some coordinating ribbon from the Flowers for Every Season Ribbon Combo Pack (#153620) around the box and now they are ready to give as a gift.

We would love to have you play along with us this week. Be sure to check out what the other talented designers/players have created for this fun challenge at the Global Design Project Challenge Blog.

I WOULD LOVE TO BE YOUR STAMPIN' UP! DEMONSTRATOR

If you are in the United States and need a demonstrator, then you can order your supplies in my online store here.

Stampin' Fancy Friday Ombre Challenge...a little late

My computer kicked the bucket a few weeks ago and I never had the opportunity to post the project I did for the March Fancy Friday Ombre Challenge. Thankfully, I had everything backed up, but I couldn't get to it until everything was restored. So now I have a new computer and hopefully, everything will be good for a while.

We have gone exclusively to sharing our Stampin' Fancy Friday projects through Instagram and Facebook, so there isn't a blog hop, so I am only a few weeks late!

Ombre is a great and easy technique that can add a WOW factor to just about any card. Here I blended three shades of blue over Forever Gold Laser Cut paper for a beautiful background.⁠

The flowers are fussy cut from Hydrangea Hill DSP (#154570) and the sentiment is from the Country Home stamp set (#147678).

Be sure to subscribe to the Stampin' Fancy Friday Instagram Page or our Stampin' Fancy Friday Facebook Page so that you can see all of the incredible cards designed by our very talented group of demonstrators.

I WOULD LOVE TO BE YOUR STAMPIN' UP! DEMONSTRATOR

If you are in the United States and need a demonstrator, then you can order your supplies in my online store here.

Global Design Project: GDP284

This week at Global Design Project we are CASEing this great card made by Krista Frattin.  (Just a little side note. My regular computer crashed this weekend and  I had to use another computer to create my blog post. For the most part things are the same, but if you spot some differences this week, it is because I don't have all the same programs downloaded onto my laptop. Truth be told, it was a great computer and it served me well for many years. Thankfully, almost everything was backed up.)

Krista's card is somewhat gender neutral. I kept a similar layout but opted for a more elegant card with a springtime vibe.

I am really loving the True Love DSP (#154281) from the Spring mini catalog. A few weeks ago I showed you how I fussy cut several of the flowers from the DSP so I would have a handy go-to stash of ready to color flowers. That is exactly what I did here. I created a background using other black & white papers from the same DSP and then used Stampin' Blends to color the images. One little trick I like to do is add more dimension to my coloring by using watercolor pencils. That is exactly what I did here. After I did my basic coloring with Blends, I used watercolor pencils in a slightly darker color to add more shading. I added some white dots to the stamens using a white gel pen.

 

The greeting is one of my favorites from the Prized Peony stamp set (#152504) and die cut using the Stitched Nested Labels (#149638)

I hope you like today's project. We would love to have you play along with us this week. Be sure to check out what the other talented designers/players have created for this challenge at the Global Design Project Challenge Blog.

I WOULD LOVE TO BE YOUR STAMPIN' UP! DEMONSTRATOR

If you are in the United States and need a demonstrator, then you can order your supplies in my online store here.